America's cocaine habit fueled its migrant crisis

Today, the US is facing a migration crisis on its southern border with Mexico. Thousands of people from Central America, especially Guatemala and Honduras are fleeing their home countries, taking a dangerous journey north through Mexico, and claiming asylum in the US. How did this crisis begin? Much of it can be traced back to the 1970s cocaine trade. Cocaine, which is mostly produced in Colombia, used to be shipped by boat and plane across the Caribbean. But in the 80s and 90s, the US cracked down on this route, so traffickers started shipping their drugs through central america and overland to Mexico. This created a violent and competitive turf war between gangs and organizations in Guatemala and Honduras. After the governments cracked down, violence only increased, which is forcing people to flee, to the US, today.

Why Colombia is losing the cocaine war

Colombia is the world’s largest producer of cocaine and the US is the largest consumer of the drug. Cocaine comes from the leaf of the coca plant which is harvested and processed in Colombia. Despite the Colombian government’s effort to eradicate the plant, coca cultivation is at an all time high. In this episode we go deep into the cocaine economy and discover why this problem is so hard to solve.